The Paladic War
In old tales and legends, Paladins were seen as guardians of light and protectors of the innocent. While the ideaology behind remains true, in practice it is not as easy. Once highly respected and revered people the Paladic Wars tainted the title of a Paladin as well as the view of all who had followed the path. The information below is the most comprised sotry taken from paladins who have recieved the "Vision of the Englightend Protector," which is said to be a dream where they can see the true events of what has took place long ago. Preface Shortly after the Age of War had begun the three heads of the Holy Order of Paladins were all assassinated by the Southern Empire. Put in an unprecendented position all of the senior ranked paladins, which compromised of sixteen people, formed a council which still holds to this day. Once the council was formed three new heads were appointed to the Holy Order : *Cecil Velgas - Male Half-Elf, skilled knight, greatly loved, doesn't like to pick sides, prefers to resolve conflict through logic and diplomacy *Wallace de Percuss - Male Human, famous for killing one of the former leaders of the Souther Rebellion, great strategiest, young *Anderas Inlustara - Male Human, son of Nygen Inlustara, deceased head of the order, young, ambitious The newly appointed heads were very successful together during their early appointments. They further carved out their particular roles and led in what they were most efficient at. Wallace oversaw the deployment of paladins and was a great aid in the war against the Southern Empire. Anderas was involved in with the funds of the order and saw to implement new programs for the younger generations of paladins. Cecil managed diplomatic relations with the military of the Great Alliance. Like before all falls, the order had come to be something everyone was very proud of. Rebellion of Anderas Baxter Stoneforge, a dwarven senior paladin was to retire soon. As a member of the council his place needed to be taken. Baxter suggested his son, a very successful paladin. It was an agreement met upon by all members of the council as well as two of the three heads. Only Anderas dissapproved, but since he was outnumbered, Baxter's son, Morgan, became a senior paladin. The dual ceremony was supposed to take place, the retirement and appointment. However, Anderas was absent. It was a tradition that all three heads be present for senior paladin appointments. Baxter cursed the young head saying that he was nothing like his father and only cared to make his name great instead of the order's. A small fued of words occurred between supporters of both sides before the words were stopped by Cecil. Anderas was contacted by Cecil and Wallace and the appointment ceremony was rescheduled three days from then. Upon Anderas's return Cecil and Wallace both noticed something was not right about him. Attributing it to a sickness the ceremony continued as plan. As customary, each of the three heads are bowed to by candidate for appointment and each head leans down and kisses the head of the candiate. Cecil and Wallace followed custom, but when Anderas leaned down to kiss Morgan's head he grasped each side and through the use of terrible divine power killed Morgan. At this moment several senior council members and their guards drew swords against one another. In the throne room much blood was shed that day. All in all over one hundred people died that day including 9 senior council members. All three heads escaped. Anderas fled to an unknown location while Cecil and Wallace remained dumbfounded and crushed as one of their best friends had betrayed them. Call to War Paladins from all over were called to fight in what became known as the Paladic wars. Paladins were siding with whomever they deemed their true leader. But as many know paladins are hardly ever alone. Due to their influence and power each paladin would bring with them, soldiers, fanatics, anyone who could weild a weapon was pulled into this war. Such was the influence and power of the paladins that they could draw from a kingdoms royal army and even from the Great Alliance's army. The Great Alliance was providing troops for both sides of the war and had no way to truly stop it. The entire time this was occurring no one truly knew what they were fighting for. Most outside of the influence of the paladins simply reffered to it as power gone corrupt and territorial disputes. The End of an Era Despite his strategic prowress and battle experience, Wallace was unable to hold back the forces of Anderas. While Wallace conducted battle, Cecil did everything in his power to keep the organization from falling apart. A few battles into the war Baxter Stoneforge took the place of Anderas as a head of the order. Enraged after his disocovery of this Anderas swore to not stop until he covered the floors of Solas Naofa with the blood of Baxter. It was during final battle, The Seige of Solas Naofa, that Wallace had revealed his final strategy. Doing his best to perform a hit and run strategy against Anderas forces Wallace had guaranteed that most of his men would still be alive, while attempting to strike at the most crucial parts of Anderas's forces. When Anderas arrived at the foothold of Solas Naofa, he knew that only half of the work was done. Solas Naofa was stategically built to repel a hundred men before it's aggressors could even claim one. Wallace waited patiently knowing that Anderas would never be able to seige the temple effectively enough to claim it as his. Knowing he may have lost most battles of this war, he knew this would be the one that mattered. Standing on the tallest overlook the temple had he shouted to the heavens, amplifying his voice so that he knew Anderas could hear him Wallace shouted, "You betrayed us brother! You betrayed our order and our people! But the truth always prevails. You should have heeded our lessons more carefully for now it will be you who walks away in defeat. You shall NEVER take this sacred temple!" As Wallace went to the throne room to discuss further preparations and plans for the seige he saw Baxter at his normal position but not Cecil. "Cecil's never late..." spoke Wallace softly. Baxter stated, "I'm sure he'll be here shortly." Wallace shook his head, "Oh he will be, but not to aid us." The sound of the drawbridge to the temple crashing on the ground echoed throughout the cooridors. A large unit of knights led by Cecil came charging through the gates against an unexpectant force inside. It was a slaughter. Eventually Cecil and Anderas made it to the throneroom where only Wallace and Baxter remained. Baxter, with fire in his eyes lunged at his son's murderer only to struck down by Cecil and disarmed. Anderas knelt down beside the beaten dwarf and slit his throat. The blood of the dwarf filled the gaps in between the stone flooring fulfilling his vow. Not much is known about the final conversation between Baxter, Wallace and Anderas. It is rumored that Lackerall the 2nd, has been given the vision and has seen this conversation and full detail and has it recorded in his journal. He says that is will be released when he feels it to be necessary. What is known is that on that day Anderas and Cecil led their army out of Solas Naofa and into the Southern Empire where a new temple was built called, Fhírinne Nua. What few paladins were left of Wallace's army found the throne room. Wallace's body knelt but still kept upright by two chains strapped to his wrists attached to stone pillars. He had been decapitated. His own sword was in front of him, bloodstained, leading many to beleive he had been killed with his own sword. Those who followed the paladin's to war who had survived went home. The paladins themselves were left leaderless and defeated. The Cost of the Feud The Paladic War was over, but the effects had taken their toll. The draw of the Great Alliance's and Royal Army's troops had weakened their fronts against the Southern Empire allowing them to gain a significant amount of territory in the Southeast part of the Great Alliance. It was then that the Great Alliance executed the Government's Sword Act, which stated that no military power shall be above that of the Government's and shall not draw from the Governments own resources. Also included in the act were several restrictions to a Paladin's power and influence. Before paladins were viewed as speakers for their God's and were given a loose leash on what they could do. The GSA quashed that and made the paladins follow the governments own rules restricting the freedom that comes with being a paladin. As there was hardly anyone who did not suffer a loss due to the war it was backed by the populous almost unanimously . Where before a paladin was a friend, a protector, and ally, they were then feared, disrespected, and were considered a last resort for most calls of help. People who became paladin's either through being chosen or choosing it themselves were viewed as people who had nowhere else to turn and couldn't rely on themselves. Things did not change for a very long time until Lackerall the 2nd rededicated his life to being a paladin. Since then he has changed the typical view of the paladin and has gained much improvement in their treatment. Though they are still not treated anywhere nearly as highly as before, Lackerall remains confident that paladins will find their place once again, though he beleives that their status before the GSA is just as unnacceptable as it was before he led things to be changed.